Stories from Ancient China: Virtues Accumulated for Trading Fairly

Huang Jianji, who was born in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province in the North Song Dynasty of ancient China, was a kind man. He did not pursue personal interest and was happy to help others. Therefore, everyone respected him.

At that time, the mayor of Chengdu City was Zhang Yong, who called himself Guaiya. He was an upright official with an outstanding performance record, although he was a little bit arrogant. One night, he had a dream that he was speaking with a deity. During the conversation, someone came with an announcement, "Huang Jianji from Ximen has arrived," then a person with Taoist clothes entered. The deity walked down the stairs to welcome Huang Jianji and also invited him to sit on the seat above Zhang Yong.

The next morning, Zhang Yong searched everywhere and finally found Huang Jianji. Zhang Yong looked at Huang Jianji, who was the same man he had seen in his dream the night before. He asked Huang Jianji how he did good deeds every day to accumulate virtue, so that even the deity respected him.

Huang Jianji told Zhang Yong, "I haven't done many meaningful deeds. I bought some wheat at the regular price when it was ripe. The following year, I sold it at the original price to the poor farmers before their wheat was ripe. I didn't make money when I bought and sold the wheat. The weight of the wheat was the same. I didn't lose anything but I helped those poor people."

After hearing what Huang Jianji said, Zhang Yong sighed with emotion, "You deserved to sit on the seat above me." Then he bowed to him in salute.

There is a proverb, "Don't think that doing small good deeds is undeserving." With a compassionate heart, Huang Jianji did not seek personal interests. He traded fairly to help others. This was a good deed that accumulated virtue. Therefore, he was respected by everyone and received good returns.